Cloth On The Move, Colonial-Era Style Exchanges
The colonial era was disruptive, often destructive, yet within it, African communities showed remarkable adaptability. Fashion became a canvas for negotiation: between imposed Western styles and local creativity, between industrial fabrics and indigenous aesthetics.
Dutch Wax Prints: From Batik to African Identity
Wax prints were first industrially manufactured in the Netherlands by Vlisco (est. 1846), inspired by Indonesian batik techniques. Intended for Southeast Asian markets, by the 1880s, these fabrics instead found resonance in West and Central Africa.
Wax print cloth selection
Africans renamed patterns (“Angelina”, “Speed Bird”), gave them symbolic meanings, and wore them as political or social commentary. A cloth might signal loyalty to a leader, commemorate a marriage, or critique corruption. This indigenization turned imports into authentic African cultural currency (Madame-Tay: A Short History of Wax Print).
European Tailoring Reimagined
Missionaries and administrators introduced tailored garments, suits, trousers, and shirts. African tailors learned quickly but reinterpreted these forms in local fabrics. In Accra and Lagos (early 20th century), jackets were cut in European style but lined with wax prints; trousers followed Western form but paired with embroidered kaftans. This was not mimicry; it was innovation.
Tailor in Loango, French Congo
Jean Audema (mid-19th to early 20th century), National Museum of African Art
Hybridity as Strength
Colonial-style exchange shows a truth: Africans did not passively absorb; they actively reshaped. This hybridity is a forerunner of what DEJI ENIOLA champions today, luxury grounded in heritage but elevated by global craft dialogues.